FOOTAGE has been released of Wendi Peters singing The Wages of Sin from the West End revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which runs at the Arts Theatre from May 22 (previews from May 18) to June 17, 2002.

Previously Posted: Following a successful run at the Landor Theatre, the acclaimed London revival of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, will transfer to the West End – to the Arts Theatre – where it will run for a four-week season from May 18 to June 17, 2012.

Tickets (Arts Theatre): £10 to £40. Previews (May 18 to May 20) all seats £20 – available from the box office on 020 7836 8463 or online at www.droodwestend.com.

Times: Tuesday to Saturday at 7.30pm, Thursday and Saturday at 3pm, Sunday at 4pm.

Previously Posted: In the 200th anniversary year of Charles Dickens’ birth, Aria Entertainment in association with The Landor Theatre are presenting the London revival of Rupert Holmes’ Broadway musical The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

Originally based on the unfinished novel by Charles Dickens and described as a thrilling and comical play within a play, it runs at the Landor Theatre from April 11 to May 5, 2012.

Full of intrigue and mystery, the story follows the exploits of the Theatre Royale Music Hall Company.

Set against the backdrop of the Great British traditions of Music Hall and Pantomime, the Theatre Royale actors set about completing the story of Edwin Drood – along the way, enlisting just a little bit of help from the audience.

The Tony Award-winning score is full of beautiful and evocative melodies, encapsulating the Victorian vaudevillian spirit of the show.

Although best known for playing Cilla Battersby-Brown in the popular soap, Peters has previously appeared on stage in Brighouse’s The Game, April In Paris, Cecelia Ahern’s Mrs Whippy, Grumpy Old Women Live 2 – Chin Up Britain and Noises Off.

Also no stranger to musicals, she has appeared in national tours of Hello Dolly! and Guys and Dolls, as well as The Scarlet Pimpernel, Into the Woods (Wolsey, Ipswich) and Follies In Concert (London Palladium).

Peters, who became a fan of The Mystery of Edwin Drood after watching the 1986 Tony Awards on television and seeing the original Broadway cast perform, is delighted to be playing Princess Puffer for this London revival. She says: “I love the idea of old time Music Hall mixed in with Dickens. The score is so beautiful, a real mix of genres, from Music Hall through Broadway to almost Classical”.

The role of Princess Puffer is one that Peters has been keen to play for a long time, as she explains:

“Dickens creates such fabulous characters – they are so funny, he really was ahead of his time. They are almost ‘soap’ like…Since seeing the clips of the show in 1986 it’s always been a role I’ve had my eye on, and now 26 years on I’m getting to the right age! She is a larger than life ‘grande dame’ of the Music Hall; playing a run-down woman who runs an opium den – I can’t wait, but it’s the show as a whole that’s the real pull”.

Produced by Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment, The Mystery of Edwin Drood has musical direction by James Cleeve, orchestrations by Tony Osborne, costume design by Jean Gray, set design by Natasha Piper and lighting by Maria Kearney.

Tickets: £18, £15 concessions – available from the box office on 0207 737 7276 or online at www.landortheatre.co.uk.